Democratic Labour Party (DLP) candidate for St Philip West Dr David Estwick is returning to the political ring with what he believes is the prescription to take the seat back from the Barbados Labour Party (BLP).
In an exclusive interview with Barbados TODAY, he said that after taking a few years to reset and refocus he is now ready to offer himself as an alternative.
In a surprise announcement on Monday, Prime Minister Mia Mottley said Barbadians will elect a new government on January 19, 2022.
Estwick served as a senior member of the Freundel Stuart administration which was swept out of office in the 2018 elections. He suffered a major defeat to first-time candidate John King who was able to capture 66.9 per cent of the votes.
This time around, he will face another first timer, Senator Kay McConney.
Estwick told Barbados TODAY he was returning to public life because he is not confident that Barbados’ current economic trajectory will make it easier for average Barbadians to survive.
Touting his previous experience in the field of economics, he said: “I had to decide that there’s no way I should see Barbados in this particular state and not utilize my experience and my skills and knowledge at this time to attempt to make the lives of average Barbadians better and attempt to create opportunities and sustain that development and the future growth for all Barbadians, and in particular the people of St Philip West.”
Reflecting on his 2018 election defeat, the politician of over 25 years said that he had learned his lessons and is now in a better position to serve.
“Let’s put it this way: Life is about decisions and choices. There is no politician that does not lose, there is no government that stays in power forever, so you have to accept that there would be a time when it was going to lose. What you have to do is you have to determine how you’re going to handle that loss and how you’re going to bounce back,” he said.
Estwick revealed that after the 2018 election result, he had formally asked for a sabbatical from the party to “stop and take stock and refocus and re-energize”.
“One of the things that I thought was necessary during that period of time was to strengthen my understanding of the relationship of government and the people, in particular, economics in the development and the enhancement of people lives,” he said.
Adding that because he had been quiet for the last three years, there were some people who questioned whether he would be back, the former Water Resources Minister said: “I was using those three years very productively because I knew what I wanted to achieve. Now, I think I have not only recharged the batteries but I have distilled out the specific knowledge that I need to be able to use going forward in helping Barbados out of this hole that it is in and obviously helping to enhance the lives of the people of St Philip West.”
When asked to weigh in on the current rumblings about DLP leader Verla DePeiza facing a potential challenge, Estwick described it as “par for the course”.
“I am not too concerned about that and the reason why I would not be too concerned about that is because that’s par for the course in politics and the reality is that there’s nothing wrong with any leader being challenged at any point in time,” he said.
“I think the party will be fine. I think the party internally will manage any differentials that it has to manage and I don’t think that it is unusual. In fact, the other side may have many more problems than we have and the reality is that they will handle it and we will handle ours,” the longstanding DLP member added.
In looking forward to the poll that is less than three weeks away, Estwick has urged Barbadians to focus on more substantive matters.
“What should be the more important issue is whether or not this party is going to articulate a type of platform that will redound to the advancement and betterment of the lives of the average Barbadians and to be able to put policies in place to sustain that development in the future. That is what Barbadians want to know about,” he said.
